Direction signal for vehicles



Jan. 36,v 1923.

W. J. HART.

D|REcT|oN SIGNAL FOR VEHICLES.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FILED JULY I7, 1922.

.3am E6; 3923. LMLZG@ W, J. HART.

DIRECTION SIGNAL FOR VEHICLES.

FILED JULY I7, 1922. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 W, J. HART.

Jan. i6, 923.

Patented dan., i6, i923.

ILLIAMJGSEPH HART, 0F ST. JOSEPH, MICHIG-AN.

DIRECTION SIGNAL FOR VEHICLES.

Application filed July 17,

To all 107mm t may concern Be. it known that l, WILLIAM J. HART, a citi/zen oi' the UnitedStates, residing; at St. Joseph, in the county ot Berrien and `filtrate of lulichigan, have .invented certain new and useful lmprorementsv in Direction Signals 'for Vehicles.l of which the following 'is a specification.`

My invention relates to devices for indicating' upon a motor vehicle the direction in which said vehicle is to he steered and thereby E., .ie notice to motorists approaching` 'from either direction ot the intention to stop or to steer to either side so that collisions and other accidents may he avoided. M3 invention seeks to provide a device for the stated purpose which may be easily Vread by approachingl motorists either in daylight or at night` and also seeks to provide a device which may be easily controlled und accurately set by the occupant ot the vehicle equipped with the device. Tincidental ohjects ot' the invention will appear in the course of the following; description5 and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the claims followingthe description.

In the accompanying; drawings Figure l is a side elevation. partly broken away, oi an automobile equipped with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an venlarged tional elevation of a portion of the vehicle showingthe means for setting the signal;

ig'. E is an end elevation ot the signal;

i is a View ot the same, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section on the line -t--t oit Fie'. 3;

5 is a detail elevation ol the stop of `a sl i ght 1922. Vserial in); 575,503.

the usual manner with a headlight 2 and a ta'illipght y3, a signal i eml'iodying my invention being mounted in connection with the headlight and also in connection with the taillight.

The signal or direction indicator comprises a preferably circular casing; havingA an opening, indicated at through its lower portion whereby light from the heady light 2 or from the taillight 3 may pass into the casino; when it is desired to illuminate the same. The casing may be o'lI any preferred construction and is equipped at its open or display side with a pane G ot llass or other transparent material which is colored throughout the `greater portion of its area but is proyided with a clear space indicated at 7. ln the particular embodiment ot. the invention illustrated in the accomN panyino; drawings, this space Y is one-fourth oi the area ot the entire pane and is utilized as a display space through which the desired signal may be read. A shaft 8 is rotatably mounted within the casino". the said shaft being' mounted in suitable hearings provided therefor and upon Jthe end ot the said shaft is secured a pinion 9 which is ennaged by a rack l() 'for lettino; the signal. A partition lll is preferably provided within the casino; and. in rear of the partition, a reiieftor of any preferred 'torni is .disposed conceunf'ically about the sha'lt. hof: 80 is secured upon the front side of the partition to guide and support the rack 'l0 and house the same and the pinion 9. The bearings for'the front end Ofi the shaitf are provided by the partition and the box while the rear end of the shaft is journaled in a bearingv 'frame 8l. secured within the casing in juxtaposition to the pane 6. .fis shown most clearly by the dotted lines in the hearingV Si is i -shaped or three-armed whereby it may he so disposed not to ohst-ruct the display space ".7, and it may be here noted that the display space at the Jop ot the signal mounted upon the laillig'ht and at the bottom oil the `signal mounted upon the headlight. lt will. of course. he understood that in the tailligyght signal. the bearing); frame 8l is at the rear cud oi" the casing. whereasin the headlight signal 'it is at the-front end of the casing. ln rear ot the-reflector, a signa-l or display disk 1B is vist secured upon the shaft, and in rear ot the signal disk is a cover plate .i6 which is loose upon the shaft between a stop collar 14. and the bearing- -frame 81, and, in its normal position, disposes a triangular plate or cover 17 over the display space 7, while, depending from the shaft, the said cover plate presents an arm 18 having` an arcuate rearwardly extending shield 19 at its lower end, said shield 1S) being,y of sutlicient area to extend over the entire area oi' the opening- 5 and thereby prevent the entra-nce or' light into the casing. At one side of the arm 18 is a lug 20, and projecting from the signal plate or dial 13 is a pin 21 which is'disposed in the path of the said lug 20 and may be engaged thereby. A spring 15 is coiled around the shaft 8 between the cover plate and the bearing frame andv has its ends secured respectively to said frame'and the tcover plate so that it tends constantly to turn the cover plate about the shaft 8 and thus holds vthe lug` 2O against the pin 21. lVhen the signal. disk is rotated, therefore, the cover plate will follow, the movement until it has made a quarter turn at which time its movement will be checked by a shoulder 82 at one corner of the screen portion 17 thereon coming into contact with a stop lug 83 on the casing. Return move'- mentof the signal disk will eventually again engage the pin 21 with the lug` 20, whereupon the continued movement oli the disk will return the. parts to normal position.

The taillip'ht 3 is of the usual construction having a glazed opening; 22 in its lower side through which light may pass to illuminate the license plate, indicated at 23, and being further provided with a glazed opening 24 in its upper side which is arranged in alinement with the opening 5 ol the signal casting so that the light from the lamp may pass into the signal casing when illumination of the latter is desired'. In order to maintain the proper relation of the signal casing` and the lamp, I preferably provide the signal casing with a foot or other support 25 which has an arcuate lower edge, as indicated at 26, whereby it may extend over the lamp and support the casing thereon. The said foot may be brazed or otherwise rigidly secured to the casingof the lamp. Referring more particularly to Fig. 6` it will be noted that the dial or display plate l?, has upon its face Jfour direction-indicating legends, to wit: Stop` Slow, Turn associated with an arrow 27 pointing in one direction, and Turn associated with an arrow 28 point in the opposite direction, the signal Stop being normally at the top of the dial and covered by the ytriangular head 'or screen portion 17 of the plate 1G. The different legends may'have distinctive colorings and they may be merely painted or otherwise produced upon a plate of glass structions being well-known.

or other transparent material, or they may becut in stencil form in a metal disk and then covered with any suitable properly colored material, all of these suggested con- If it be intended to stop the vehicle, the controlling mechanism is ,set in the stop position and the rack 10 is thereby actuated so that the shaft -8 will be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6. The pin 21 thereupon tends to move away from the lug- 2O but the spring 15, as above described, causes the cover plate to follow the movement of the disk until it has made a quarter turn Vso that the display space 7 will be uucovered. The disk, however, continues its movement and at the end of a complete rotation will show the word Stop7 through the display space. Obviously, rotation of less extent will bring any one ofthe other legends into display position as may be desired. Ofcourse, the legends may be arranged in any desired order, but l believe the order illustrated will be generally preferred as the most frequently needed signal Slow7 will be displayed with only a quarter revolution while the lull rotationv is required tor the least frequently needed siglnal. In daylight, the lamp 3 or 2, as the case may be, will n ot be burning and, therefore, the interior of the signal casingwill not be ilhuninated, except to such extent as daylight may enter the same. The nncovering ot the dial, however, by the movement of the cover plate will cause the desired signal to be displayed sharply and in such a manner as to immediately attract the attention oi approaching motorists. When traveling,` at night, however, the shield or screen 19 will elefectually prevent the entrance of light from the lamp into the signal casing` so that the signal will be dark and will not be conspicuously noticeable, but when it is desired to display a signal, the movement oit the coverplate carrying the shield or screen 19 from over the opening 5 will effect a sudden and complete illumination of the signal which will immediately attract the attention of an approaching motorist so that he will be positively notilied ot the intention to stop, turn or slow down. ln both da)Y and night travel` no signal is displayed when traveling,r straight ahead and the change o'li'v conditions caf-used by shittingr ol the sigiufd disk is, therefore. sure to attract attentionwhich is the ultimate result sought. lVhen the signal is applied to the rear end ol the-vehicle and ai'- ranged in connection with the taillight, the rack l0 `will move vertically, but when the device is applied to a headlight, the rack '1.0 will be more conveniently arranged to operate horizontally, as shown clearly in ll1 ige. 8 and 9and the display space 7 will be arranged at the'bottoin of the signal casing instead of at the top thereof :is clearly.ehown. MoreoverA` when the device is arranged in connection `with the teillight7 the signal tins ingr 'will be arranged directly over the taillight, as shown clearly in Fig. al, hut when arranged in connection with the lreadlicht` the signal casing' will he placed in front of the headlight and .zit the upper portion thcrcof, as shown in Figs. 8 und so that some of the vforwerdlj,7 projecting light rays will he intercepted and caused to pass into the signal casing.

Referringparticularly to Figs. S und 9, it will he noted that when applied to the headligzg'ht` the signal casing is arranged so as to project in front of the upper portion of the headlight end the opening' 5 is formed in the rear Well of the casing. The partition ll may loe omitted and the box arranged exteriorly to the casing. The shield 85, car.- ried by the cover plate is in the form of e trough or cup to pass around the signal plate and cover the opening The light entering the casing from the headlight Will he in line With the display area T but a reflector S6 conforming to the circumferential Wall of the casing may he fitted in the bottoni thereof to aid in the illumination of the interior of the casing.

Various means may he provided `for contro-lling' and setting the signal. and l hure illustrated what l non' lielieve to he the liest means for that purpose. rlhe illustrated controlling and setting' nlechaniein includes a. rech 29 which is shown as secured upon the instrument hoard 3th hut it may he mounted upon the steering' column 31 or otherwise supported in a position adjacent the chauffeurs seat. This rack 29 has upon its face notches or other holding` elements.y indicated at 32, to he engaged hy a don` upon the setting hand lever 34 so as to hold the in any eet position. rlhe hund lever 34 is also equipped with a pointer 35 which acts in conjunction With legends 36 corresponding to the legends upon the dial 13 so that, when the pointer 35 is over any one of the said legends 36T` `the saine legend will he displayed by the signal. The lever or handle Hel; is 'lulcrnnie-l at 3i concentric with the rack 29 end has n t L endiin' crank Ar pitinnn is piroted to the of this eranlt and extends forwaroly therefrom Within a guiding' suppfLt -lll which shown as projectingv rearwardly from the dash ll of the 1fehicle. The front end of this pitman may he connected in anyv convenient manner with the outer end ol the rack 'ULy and l have found it satisfactory to use :i flexiloleI rod, indicated at consistingl of Wires Wrapped within n. stout coiled Wire casing'. This particular con: ectinf;` inediuin is Well-known and any equivalent of the same may he employed. ln order that the operetion of the controlling' and setting nieclizinisin only not he depend use of the hund lever lll. l

shaft -l-l upon the dush rl-l iis roch shaft is equippef cronies -l-l and 4.5. the crank l *Cd ily' 70 n link U5 with the pinnen 'aut on): niorenunt of the roll: shaft initted tothe pitnnui'. it heine" linl lo provided with a lo its reur end freely; eli "5 adapted to ibut n The crank Ll5 is ith extending' crank zum the said is connected hy n link 5H with niounted upon the foot lu'mvrd of S0 Vehicle in position to he errant; il

set 5B upon tl. Vtoot lin 2,.;

crank L*l1-fl. is connected in' a l. i

hell crank mounted upon the hrale leerer 5T. .lt Will thus he 85 should the chlutfeur.,a a' eine-ru' the brakes and foi-riet to set through the use of the lie-.nl application of the hre 'will i elfect settinn` of tie sufhal. notorists will he enahloo sion. It' Wilh of course. he stood that the controllin he arrzn'igred to lie :icti'la operation of the cniergijenc {mi}v upon und whenever pedal is opcratei'h such result i hy merely oinitti ij the other described nlcchanisim init T pi ride all the t escrihed parts upon 'the so as to more eflectuellj. 'i dents.

The pene (l is. as l vided with a clear space Aroinrh whit'. signals are t lie read out the Y, tion of the pane is not opaque l intention to color the remainingl portion o the pane so that it nier trzfinsinit liol l perniit approaching' motori' to no .anisin nier upon the lover or 'loot lo im location ofthe sigrnzilr and the dis; hij; c1 H0 'T Ina;7 he simplyY :ilored :irca of Y, pane. Prefernhlj nslurent portion of the pane will he colo*- Y as such color is pencralljrf used nini xtirc in atti-fiction; attention. l' loire 115 illustrut another vice which n the Tlris devicfi" f l arcuate formation so that it nu. tit within lfi the cap of Vthe canino; i over the trewdnreut portion of the corel' or pone t3 and ie prei'n erelily of inctel liaringl` lettori-i cut ont thereA in so as to display suon a legend us "dlatcli this sional.w indicated et 5f). llt the conter ll of the inner edge of this plate is en arrow or linger (it) winch points directly to the display space 7 so that attention will he directed to the essentiel point of tht` signal at all times. 1430 My im proved signal is obvimlsly simple in the construction and arrangement oifi its parts and may be readily applied to any vehicle new in use or to be hereafter produced.

Haring thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A direction signal comprising a casing having a lixed display area at one end, a dial mounted within the casing and bearing legends to be displayed singly through said area, means t'or shifting the dial to bring a selected legend to the display area, a cover. normally closing the said display arca, and means for shifting said cover whereby to permit reading of that legend upon the dial which is at the display area.

2. A .direction signal comprising a. casing` having a fixed display area at one end, a legend-bearing dial mounted within the casing, a cover normally closing the display area oit the casing, means for shifting the dial to bring desired legend into view at the display area, and cri-operating means on the dial and the cover whereby initial movement ot' the dial will move the cover from over the display space.

3. A direction signal comprising a casing having` a fixed display area at one end, a legend-bearing dial arranged within the casing a pin projecting from said dial, a cover plate normally closing the display area oit the casing and having a lug on one side adapted to engage the pin projecting from the dial, means for shifting the dial to bring a selected legend to the display area, means for holding the lng on the cover plate against the pin on the dial whereby the plate will follow the movement ot the dial, and means ior limiting the movement of the cover plate whereby to release said pin from said lug. l

A. A direction signal con'iprising a casing having an opening at its bottom to admit light thereinto and being `further provided with a display area at one end, a legendbearing` dial within the casing, a cover plate normally closing the display area in the casing` a screen carried by said cover plate normally covering the opening at the bottom otl the casing, and means for shitting said cover plate whereby to permit illumination oi? the casing and reading ol? a legend upon the dial.

5. The combination of a. casing, a legendbcaring dial therein, a shaft disposed within the casing and carrying said dial, a pitman mounted for reciprocation at a point remote From the signal casing, a rock shaft connected with said pitman, flexible connections between said pitman and the shaft within the signal casing, a second rock shaft, a crank on the second shaft, a link extending from said crank and loosely encircling the pi.tman means for actuating the second rock shaft, and an abutment on the pitman whereby the pitman may be actuated by the firstmentioned rock shaft without causing movement of the second rock shaft and movement of the second rock shaft will cause the link to engage said abutment and actuate the pitman. i

6. A direction signal comprising a-casing having a display area and a light-admitting opening, a signa-l dial within the casing, means for shiftingthe dial, a cover member within the casing constructed to close the display area and the light-admitting opening, and means whereby during a portion ot the setting movement of the dial said cover member will be moved to open the display area and the light-admitting opening and during portion of the return movement of the dial will be restored to normal.

7. A direction signal comprising a casing having a lined display area at one end, a dial within the cas-ing bearing legends to be viewed at the display area, means for shiiting the dia-l to bring a selected legend to the display area, a cover normally extending over the display area. to prevent the reading of a legend, means tending constantly to move the cover in one direction, means on the cover and casing to limit movement of the cover in the one direction, and a member on the dial projecting into the path of the cover to hold the same in normal position and permit its movement in the one direction upon movement of the dial in the same direction and restore the cover to normal upon return movement of the dial.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM Josnrn HART. [n s] 

